The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for providing information to television viewers, and more particularly to systems and methods for allowing the viewer to retrieve, search, select and interact with television schedule information located in a remote database, computer network or on-line service, e.g., a network server on the Internet or World Wide Web.
As the number of television stations in a metropolitan area or on a cable network has increased, the number of programs of potential interest that are presented to a viewer has risen dramatically. With the use of dish antennas capable of receiving direct satellite signals, the multitude of programs available to the viewer has further increased. Consequently, television schedule systems that are provided directly on the viewer's television screen have been developed to assist the viewer in sorting through these various programs and determining which programs to watch or record. One such television schedule system is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,121 (Young et al.), the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In one embodiment of Young, the television schedule includes a series of menu screens having an array of cells corresponding to different television programs. The viewer may scroll through the cells to view which television programs are being presented on various channels at various times. In addition, the viewer may select certain cells to obtain more information on the associated program or to pull up other submenus with additional options.
The recent development of television schedule systems, such as the above described patent to Young, have created many new challenges and opportunities. One such challenge and opportunity is to provide viewers with additional information associated with a particular program in the television guide. As a television viewer is browsing through the television programs, he or she may wish to obtain more information relating to specific areas of interest or concerns associated with the show, such as the actors, actresses, other movies released during the same time period, or travel packages or promotions that may be available through primary, secondary or third party vendors. Offering this type of information to the television viewer can be difficult, however, because there are hundreds of different programs broadcast every day. In addition, the available information changes at a rapid pace, which makes it even more difficult to provide this information in present television schedule guides.
In television broadcasting, it may also be desirable to interact with the viewer. There are many commercials and programs which request viewer action such as purchasing an advertised product, making a monetary contribution, responding to a survey, answering a question, or participating in contests with other viewers, for example. One problem with this existing system is that it is often difficult to motivate a viewer to request information or send in a contribution after the broadcast of the commercial or program. Viewers will often forget the advertisement or simply lose motivation to spend money or request information after the commercial or program is over. Another problem is that companies sponsoring these commercials or programs would often like to provide their viewers with further information, if the viewers could be identified or if the viewer requests the additional information. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a ready and efficient method to facilitate an exchange of information between television viewers and producers, promoters and advertisers during the broadcast of the commercial or program.